Time will evaluate just what kind of legendary status Johnny Manziel left behind at the collegiate level, but the player that appears ready to step into the spotlight this fall, at least within the SEC, just might be Missouri quarterback Maty Mauk.

“He’s somebody that I want to — not necessarily be like — but I can model my game after him,” Mauk said at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, according to USA Today. “He can change a game so quick by being able to make plays, and that’s something I feel like I can do and something I have to do.”

Last season, as a freshman, Mauk filled in to lead Missouri’s offense when James Franklin had to be sidelined due to injury. The pressure was on as Missouri tried to keep an undefeated season going. In a four-game stretch in late October into November, Mauk passed for 10 touchdowns and 910 yards with just two interceptions. Missouri went 3-1 in that stretch, with the only loss coming against South Carolina in the final moments of the game. Mauk was not much of a rushing threat for Missouri, so he will have some work to do before envisioning doing some of the things that worked so well for Manziel.

“I can run, too. I think I put a dual-threat in there… that’s what people don’t know,” Mauk said. Mauk is already adapting to life withoutDorial Green-Beckham as he prepares for the upcoming season. One thing Mauk will not be looking to follow in Manziel’s footsteps is the off-field attention. That should be comforting news for Missouri fans.

“I don’t like attention,” Mauk said. “I like to be able to go home and not have people following me. I want to be able to focus on football and get as good as I can and help this team succeed.”

Will anyone be able to live up to the hype machine driven by Manziel? Could Mauk be the new most electric player in college football? That seems pretty optimistic, but it is most definitely something to shoot for.

LSU will be without safety Ed Paris for the rest of the season, head coach Ed Orgeron said Monday. Paris suffered a “significant” knee injury during practice last week, for which he has already undergone surgery.

“He’s always around here and smiling and making sure everybody knows he’s good,” cornerback Donte Jackson told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “He wants us to know that he’s all right and that we should just keep playing. He’s always in (the film room). He gets treatment and then he’s right in there and tries to watch practice a little before he has to get his next treatment.”

Paris is a senior, which means it’s possible he has played his final game as a Tiger. However, Oregeron believes he could seek and receive a medical redshirt to return in 2018.

“Ed’s going to be out for the season,” Orgeron said. “Just went through an operation, and hopefully we can redshirt him and get him back for next year.”

A native of Arlington, Texas, Paris split at safety with Grant Deplit.

In October of 2014, it was confirmed that LSU and Miami would open the 2018 college football season against each other. Nearly three years later, we have a date and time to go along with it.

It was announced Tuesday that the Tigers and Hurricanes will meet Sunday, Sept. 2, of next year at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. ET. It was originally scheduled to be played the day before.

That matchup will be broadcast on ABC.

The opener will mark just the 12th meeting ever between the football programs, and the first since 2013. This will also serve as the third-ever regular-season meeting between the ACC and SEC squads, with the last one coming way back in 1988.

The Tigers will be playing just their second game ever on a Sunday. They last did so in 2002 against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

I don’t even know if bubble-wrapping Maryland quarterbacks would help at this point.

This past Saturday afternoon, Kasim Hill went down with what appeared to be a very serious-looking injury to his right leg in the first quarter of the loss to UCF. Three days later, it was confirmed that the true freshman has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the 2017 season.

Hill is the second Terrapins quarterback to suffer such a fate the first four weeks of the season. In the second half of Maryland’s season-opening 51-41 upset of Texas, Tyrrell Pigrome went down with what was later diagnosed as a torn ACL, ending his 2017 season as well.

Unfortunately for the Terps, the injuries, ACLs in particular, haven’t been limited to just those two of late.

Maryland QBs

-Five ACL tears in six seasons
-One linebacker starting 1/3 of a season
-Now on 4th-stringer in Week 5 https://t.co/w45VwvRXMq

Hill will be replaced in the starting lineup by No. 3 quarterback Max Bortenschlager, who started one game last season for the Terps. After replacing Hill, Bortenschlager completed 15-of-26 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the 38-10 loss to the Knights. Prior to that, he had attempted just two passes this season, completing one of them for four yards.

There were many who thought Nebraska’s now-former athletic director was disconnected from the university’s deep football history. With today’s move, the athletic department has made a 180-degree turn.

NU announced Tuesday afternoon that Dave Rimington has been named as the interim athletic director. Rimington replaces Shawn Eichorst, who was dismissed late last week after nearly five years on the job.

Rimington was one of the greatest college football centers in history, and, in 1981 and 1982 for the Cornhuskers, became the only player to win back-to-back Outland Trophy Awards. In 2000, the Rimington Trophy was established to honor the most outstanding center in college football.

In 1997, he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame.

“I’m so pleased that we could count on Dave Rimington, who is a Husker through and through, to answer our call to lend his administrative expertise and unwavering support for Nebraska Athletics during this key time of transition,” chancellor Ronnie Green said in a statement. “I am confident that Dave will provide exceptional leadership as we move forward in our search for a new, permanent director of athletics.”

“I am humbled and grateful to accept this responsibility,” Rimington, one of 17 former ‘Huskers with their jerseys retired, said. “I look forward to working with the coaches, staff and student-athletes at Nebraska, which is a truly special place that has had a profound impact on my life and the lives of countless others.”

Rimington is currently the president of the New York-based Boomer Esiason Foundation, but will be taking a sabbatical from those duties.